April 2001

How Not to Create an Ad

Eight "Don’ts" to Avoid in Your Marketing

By Kerry Randall

Creating truly powerful, response-generating ads is a process. While experienced professionals can create good ads in a relatively short time, great ads don’t just appear out of thin air. There is no Santa Claus in the content-creation business.

Today’s powerful ads are the results of thousands of hours of research, thought, and experimentation. Along the way, even the most talented content-creators make mistakes. While we learn a great deal from our mistakes, we still strive to avoid them.

One way to avoid mistakes is by developing awareness of possible blunders; it streamlines the process of creating intended results.

Did you ever get directions from someone that included a few "don’ts"? In directions and instructions, the "don’ts" can be more important than the "do’s." With that in mind, following are the eight most common "don’ts" to avoid:

1. Don’t be cynical about potential results. Good attitudes generate good results.

2. Don’t sell your services. Instead, provide solutions to your potential clients’ problems.

3. Don’t forget the importance of research. Know your client. Know your competition.

4. Don’t copy other advertisers. In fact, don’t compete with them.

5. Don’t try to provide all your services to everyone. Target your marketing.

6. Don’t use too many words. People don’t read text-heavy ads.

7. Don’t forget the importance of your headlines. Ads with engaging headlines get read.

8. Don’t adopt the belief that spending a lot of money on advertising will compensate for not investing the time necessary to create powerful ads. Make your ads work before spending more money on making them bigger or distributing them further.

Through your awareness of these common blunders, you can avoid making them; you can enhance marketing campaigns that will outperform your competitors’.

For more info on the limits and ethics of marketing your legal practice, check your local jurisdiction’s rules. The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct include universal responsibilities for every practitioner engaged in legal services marketing.

Kerry Randall is the founder of Kennedy Greene Associates, a California-based content development agency that specializes in print advertising. He may be reached at 805/773-6430 or at www.yellowpageswar.com.

Ready Resources

ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, 2001 Edition. ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. PC #561-0158.

Marketing and Legal Ethics: The Boundaries of Promoting Legal Services. 2000. PC #511-0432;

Yellow Pages Lawyer Advertising: An Analysis of Effective Elements. 1992. PC #406-0013. Law Practice Management Section. Section members receive a discounted price.

To order any of the above titles, call the ABA Service Center at 800/285-2221 or visit online at www.ababooks.org.